Poster Companion Reference:

Hyper-V Virtual Machine Mobility

Live Migration Without

Shared Storage

Storage Migration

Live Migration with

SMB Shared Storage

Live Migration with

Failover Clusters

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Some examples depicted herein are provided for illustration only and are fictitious. No real
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Microsoft, Active Directory, BranchCache, Hyper-V, RemoteX, Windows PowerShell, and
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All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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Introduction
This document is part of a companion reference discussing the Windows Server 2012
Hyper-V Component Architecture Poster.
This document refers to the poster section titled Hyper-V Virtual Machine Mobility and
discusses new live migration features in Windows Server 2012, including live migration without
shared storage (also known as shared nothing live migration), live migration with SMB shared
storage, storage migration, and live migration with failover clusters.
1. Understanding Live Migration
2. New Functionality in Windows Server 2012 Live Migration
3. Windows Server 2012 Live Migration Requirements
4. Live Migration Without Shared Storage (Shared Nothing Live Migration)
5. Understanding Live Migration Without Shared Storage
6. Storage Migration
7. Understanding Storage Migration
8. Live Migration with Failover Clusters
9. Live Migration with SMB Shared Storage
10. Windows Server Component Architecture Posters
You can obtain the Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Component Architecture Poster from the
Microsoft Download Center. This is a free resource. You can download it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=29189

1. Understanding Live Migration

In Windows Server 2008 R2, live migration was introduced in Hyper-Vlive migration with
failover clusters. It provides you with the capability to move a virtual machine from one node in
a Windows Server 2008 R2 failover cluster to another node without a perceived interruption in
service.
Live migration quickly became one of the most popular features in Hyper-V and one of the most
useful tools for managing a virtualized environment. It is very helpful to be able to migrate a
virtual machine off your server that needs maintenance, then later migrate it back when the
maintenance is complete. You can also use live migration to manage high resource utilization
periods in your environments by moving virtual machines to new servers that have greater
performance or storage capacities.

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2. New Functionality in Windows Server 2012 Live

Migration
In Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, new functionality extends live migration beyond just live
migration with failover clusters. Now it works without any requirement for a failover cluster (live
migration without shared storage or shared nothing live migration), allows you to migrate
your virtual disk storage (storage migration), and works with your new SMB 3.0 file shares (live
migration with SMB shared storage).

3. Windows Server 2012 Live Migration Requirements

All types of Windows Server 2012 live migrations have the following requirements:

Two or more servers running Windows Server 2012 with the Hyper-V role installed that:
o

Support hardware virtualization.

Use processors from the same manufacturer (for example, all AMD or all Intel)

Are part of the same Active Directory domain.

Virtual machines that are configured to use virtual hard disks or virtual Fibre Channel
disks (no direct-attached storage).

A private network for live migration network traffic.

Live migration with failover clusters has the following additional requirements:

The Failover Clustering feature is enabled and configured.

Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) storage in the failover cluster is enabled.

Live migration with SMB shared storage has the following additional requirements:

All files on a virtual machine (such as virtual hard disks, snapshots, and configuration) are
stored on a Server Message Block share.

Permissions on the SMB share must be configured to grant access to the computer
accounts of all servers running Hyper-V.

Live migration without shared storage (shared nothing live migration) has no additional
requirements.

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4. Live Migration Without Shared Storage

Live migration without shared storage (also known as shared nothing live migration) is new in
Windows Server 2012. It enables you to migrate your virtual machines and their associated
storage between servers running Hyper-V within the same domain. This kind of live migration
requires only an Ethernet connection. Note that this type of live migration does not provide high
availabilitylive migration with failover clusters offers this benefit with its shared storage.
Live migration without shared storage offers the following benefits:

It allows increased flexibility of your virtual machine placements.

It increases administrator flexibility.

It reduces downtime for migrations across cluster boundaries.

Many administrators are using live migration without shared storage for more dynamically
evolving and managing their infrastructure. For example, if you are experiencing hardware
problems with your server running Hyper-V, you can use this kind of live migration to quickly
move the entire virtual machine to another server while you troubleshoot the original server.
Then, you can simply move it back later. There is no failover cluster and no complex detailed
configuration required.
Using live migration without
shared storage, you can also
migrate your virtual machines
between clusters, and from a
non-clustered computer into a
failover cluster. Additionally,
you can migrate virtual
machines between different
storage types. You can initiate

Virtual Hard Disks (VHDs)

Configuration files
Snapshots
Hyper-V Smart Paging

Virtual machine file and data

storage can be located in one or
multiple locations.

1
1
0 1
0
1 0
1
0 1
00

1
1
0 1
0
1 0
1
0 1
00

1
1
0 1
0
1 0
1
0 1
00

Requirements:
Hyper-V
Source Computer Running
Hyper-V

Destination Computer
Running Hyper-V

live migration without shared storage using Windows PowerShell.

It is easy to complete a live migration without shared storage operation. You use Hyper-V
Manager to select the virtual machine, and then choose the option to move the virtual machine.
A wizard guides you through the process, but you need to make a few basic decisions as you
migrate.
For example, you must decide on how to store your virtual machine on the destination server
running Hyper-V. You can move the virtual machine data to a single location, or select individual
locations for each component of your virtual machine (for example virtual hard disks). You can
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also choose to move only the virtual machine. If you choose this option, make sure your virtual
hard disks are on shared storage.

5. Understanding Live Migration Without Shared Storage

During the operation of live migration without shared storage, your virtual machine continues to
run while all of its storage is mirrored across to the destination server running Hyper-V. After the
Hyper-V storage is synchronized, the live migration completes its remaining tasks. Finally, the
mirroring stops and the storage on the source server is deleted.
When you perform a live migration of a virtual machine between two computers that do not
share storage, Hyper-V first performs a partial migration of the virtual machines storage.
Hyper-V performs the following steps:
1. Throughout most of the move operation, disk reads and writes go to the source virtual
hard disk (VHD).

Source Server

Destination Server

2. While reads and writes occur on the

source virtual hard disk, the disk
contents are copied (or mirrored)

Virtual Machines

Virtual Machines

over the network to the new

destination virtual hard disk.
3. After the initial disk copy is complete,

VHD Stack

VHD Stack

disk writes are mirrored to both the

source and destination virtual hard

disks, while outstanding disk changes

are replicated.
4. After the source and destination

2
5

Source Device

Destination Device

virtual hard disks are synchronized, the virtual machine live migration is initiated,
following the same process that was used for live migration with shared storage.
5. After the live migration is complete and the virtual machine is successfully running on
the destination server, the files on the source server are deleted.
After the virtual machines storage is migrated, the virtual machine migrates while it continues to
run and provide network services.

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6. Storage Migration
In just about every organization, having the flexibility to manage storage without affecting the
availability of your virtual machine workloads is a key capability. IT administrators require this
flexibility to perform maintenance on storage subsystems, upgrade storage appliance firmware
and software, respond to dynamic requests for organization resources, and balance loads as
capacity is consumedall without shutting down virtual machines.
In Windows Server 2008 R2, you could move a running instance of a virtual machine by using
live migrationbut you were not able to move the virtual machine storage while the virtual
machine was running. However, in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, you are now able to move the
virtual machine storage while it is running using the new functionality called storage migration.
Hyper-V storage migration enables you to move virtual machine storage (virtual hard disks
(VHDs)) without downtime, and enables several new usage scenarios. For example, you can add
more physical disk storage to a non-clustered computer or a Hyper-V failover cluster, and then
move the virtual machines to the new storage while the virtual machines continue to run. You
have two options to implement storage migration. You can perform a storage migration using
the Hyper-V Manager (using the GUI) or through Windows PowerShell and associated scripts.
The requirements for storage migration are Windows Server 2012 with the Hyper-V role
installed and virtual machines configured to use virtual hard disks for storage.
Storage migration allows you to migrate a complete virtual machine to another locationon
either your current server or on shared storage (for example, an SMB 3.0 file share). It offers you
a large variety of migration options. These include moving your virtual machine data to a single
location, moving your virtual machine data to different locations, or just moving your virtual
machines virtual hard disks. If you choose to move different components, you can specify virtual
hard disks, current configuration, snapshots, and Smart Paging.

7. Understanding Storage Migration

An important thing to understand about storage migration is that you can perform storage
migration when your virtual machine is running or when it is turned off. Note that storage
migration moves the storage, but not your virtual machine state.
When you move a running virtual machines storage (virtual hard disks), Hyper-V performs the
following steps.

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1. Throughout most of the move operation, disk reads and writes go to the source virtual
hard disk.
2. While reads and writes occur on the source
virtual hard disk, the disk contents are copied to

Server Running Hyper-V

Virtual
Machines

the new destination virtual hard disk.

3. After the initial disk copy is complete, disk writes
are mirrored to both the source and destination

VHD Stack

virtual hard disks while outstanding disk changes

are replicated.

4. After the source and destination virtual hard

disks are synchronized, the virtual machine

switches over to using the destination virtual

hard disk.

Source VHD

Destination VHD

5. The source virtual hard disk is deleted.

8. Live Migration with Failover Clusters

Failover clustering provides your organization with protection against application and service
failure, system and hardware failure (such as CPUs, drives, memory, network adapters, and
power supplies), and site failure (which could be caused by natural disaster, power outages, or
connectivity outages).
The Windows Server Failover Clustering feature enables high-availability solutions for many
workloads, and has included Hyper-V support since Hyper-V was released. By clustering your
virtualized workloads, you can increase reliability and availability, and can enable access to your
server-based applications in times of planned or unplanned downtime.
Earlier in this guide, section 5 discussed live migration without shared storage. This is outside of
a failover cluster and does not deliver high availability. However, Windows Server 2012
continues to offer a high availability solution that uses Failover Clustering with Hyper-V.
Hyper-V live migration with failover clusters (first introduced in Windows Server 2008 R2)
enables you to move running virtual machines from one clustered server (node) running HyperV to another server (node) without any disruption or perceived loss of service. Note that live
migration is initiated by the administrator and is a planned operation.

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In Windows Server 2012, you can improve on this migration process by selecting multiple virtual
machines within the failover cluster and performing multiple simultaneous live migrations of
those virtual machines.
You can also select and queue live
migrations of multiple virtual

Virtual
Machine

machines. It is important to remember

that live migration queuing is only

Virtual Hard
Disks

supported within a failover cluster.

As with all types of live migration, you

Source Computer
Running Hyper-V

can initiate live migration with failover

Requirements:

clusters using Windows PowerShell.

Virtual
Machine

Destination Computer
Running Hyper-V
Shared Storage

Shared storage: Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS), Internet SCSI (iSCSI), Server Message Block (SMB), Fibre
Channel

9. Live Migration with SMB Shared Storage

Some customers do not need to invest in clustering hardware to meet their business objectives.
In fact, many organizations already have existing investments in simple SMB storage that they
would like to leverage. In Windows Server 2012, you can now use live migration outside a
failover cluster when your virtual machine is stored on a Server Message Block (SMB) share.
Live migration with SMB shared storage enables you to move your virtual machines between
servers running Hyper-V within the same domain while your virtual machine storage remains on
the SMB-based file server. This allows you to benefit from virtual machine mobility without
having to invest in a failover clustering infrastructure. Hosting providers and similar
environments frequently need this capability. Windows Server 2012 also supports concurrent
live migrations.
Requirements:
Hyper-V, SMB shared storage

Depending on your
organizational infrastructure,
live migration operations can

Virtual
Machine

Virtual
Machine
Virtual hard disks are stored on SMB shared storage.

be very fastyou are not

migrating your virtual storage,
so you are not moving larger
virtual hard disks across your

Source Computer
Running Hyper-V

network.

Destination Computer
Running Hyper-V
File-based Server Storage (SMB)

For live migration with SMB shared storage, your virtual hard disk (VHD) is on an SMB 3based
file server.

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Once you begin this migration, the actual running state of your virtual machine is migrated from
one server to another. It is important to note that the connection to the SMB storage is
migrated, but your virtual hard disk never moves.
As with live migration without shared storage (shared nothing live migration), Windows Server
2012 makes it easy to migrate your virtual machine on an SMB file server. You can start the live
migration using Hyper-V Manager (which is GUI-based), or you can initiate it using Windows
PowerShell (see the move-vm cmdlet).
There are a few things to keep in mind if you want to use live migration with SMB shared
storage. Apart from having servers running Hyper-V that are part of the same Active Directory
domain, you should keep all the virtual machine files (such as virtual hard disks, snapshots, and
configuration files) stored on a SMB 3-based file server. In addition, you need to make sure you
configure permissions on your SMB file server correctly. This means that you need to grant
access to the computer accounts of all your servers running Hyper-V. Also, you need to use
Windows Server 2012 on servers that support hardware virtualizationand these servers need
to use processors from the same manufacturer (AMD-V or Intel VT)(same as the requirement in
Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2).

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10. Windows Server Component Architecture Posters

To download the Windows Server 2012 poster, see Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Component
Architecture in the Microsoft Download Center. If you want to reference the previous
component architecture posters that relate to Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2, please see
the following posters.

Windows Server 2008 R2: Hyper-V Component Architecture

The Windows Server 2008 R2: Hyper-V Component
Architecture poster provides a visual reference for
understanding key Hyper-V technologies in
Windows Server 2008 R2. It focuses on architecture,
snapshots, live migration, virtual networking,
storage, and import/export.
You can use this poster in conjunction with the
previously published Windows Server 2008 R2 Feature Components Poster.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Component Architecture (with Service

Pack 1)
This Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Component
Architecture (with Service Pack 1) poster provides a
visual reference for understanding key Hyper-V
technologies in Windows Server 2008 R2 with
Service Pack 1. It focuses on architecture,
snapshots, live migration, virtual networking,
storage, RemoteFX, and Dynamic Memory.

You can also use this poster in conjunction with the previously published Windows Server 2008
R2 Feature Components Poster.

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Windows Server 2008 R2 Feature Components Poster

The Windows Server 2008 R2 Feature
Components Poster provides a visual
reference for understanding key
technologies in Windows
Server 2008 R2. It focuses on Active
Directory Domain Services, Hyper-V,
Internet Information Services, Remote
Desktop Services (including Virtual
Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)),
BranchCache, and DirectAccess technologies. In addition, updates to core file services and
server management are illustrated.
You can use this poster in conjunction with the Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008
R2 component posters.

Remote Desktop Services Component Architecture Poster

The Remote Desktop Services
Component Poster provides a visual
reference for understanding key
Remote Desktop Services technologies
in Windows Server 2008 R2. It explains
the functions and roles of Remote
Desktop Session Host, Remote Desktop
Virtualization Host, Remote Desktop
Connection Broker, Remote Desktop
Web Access, Remote Desktop Gateway,
Remote Desktop Licensing, and RemoteFX.
You can use this poster in conjunction with the Windows Server 2008 and Windows
Server 2008 R2 component posters.

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